UK should set maximum working temperature rules, advisers say

UK should set maximum working temperature rules, advisers sayJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMark Poynting,Climate researcherandJustin Rowlatt,Climate editorGetty ImagesUK temperatures hit 40C for the first time on record in July 2022 but scientists warn that even more extreme heat is now possibleThe UK should introduce a maximum temperature for workplaces to protect people as heatwaves intensify due to climate change, the government's adviser has said.The Climate Change Committee (CCC) said that rolling out air conditioning and other cooling technologies in schools and hospitals should be one of the government's highest priorities.It warned that increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and floods were threatening the British "way of life", from sports matches to music festivals.The government said it would carefully consider and respond to the committee's advice, adding it was already investing in flood defences.But Baroness Brown, chair of the CCC's Adaptation Committee, criticised the "woeful" performance of successive governments in tackling the present and future threats facing the UK from climate change."We need to recognise that there are aspects of our British way of life which are now really under threat from climate," she said."It's not rocket science - we know what to do [… but] we haven't yet seen a government that's prepared to prioritise adapting to the change of climate [... and] protecting the people and the places that we love," she added.The CCC warned that the "UK was built for a climate that no longer exists today", adding that it is now inarguable that climate change is reshaping our weather.Last year was the UK's warmest year on record, with drought and low water levels affecting much of the country. That came shortly after one of the UK's wettest winters on record in 2023-24, which triggered widespread flooding. The CCC stresses that reduc...